In this article, we take a look at two very different approaches to the golf swing plane, especially the backswing plane, as demonstrated by Matt Kuchar and Fred Couples. Undeniably Different Backswing Planes: Freddie vs. The Kuch Matt Kuchar has one of the flattest swing planes on the PGA tour.  He wraps the club around his body on the backswing, comes at the ball from the inside, and tends to play a draw.  Freddie, on the other hand, has one of the most abrupt and upright takeaways on tour.  His backswing and swing plane is mostly “up”, not “around”, and he tends to play ..read more

In this video post, we take a look at Justin Thomas and how his golf aim arises from his alignment method before he addresses the golf ball. Mundane, you say?  Hardly.  Very few things can help you improve faster than getting into the proper golf address position with proper golf alignment on each and every shot.  Believe it. Justin Thomas aligning himself to his distant target before he addresses the ball. I often see my playing partners neglect this part of the game.  It is a shame. If you don’t get your golf setup, golf alignment, and golf aim right, you cannot possib ..read more

Symptom: You are topping, thinning, and scooping the golf ball despite all your best efforts to stop.  You try to stop topping the golf ball but can’t seem to get it done. Your send another thin golf shot low and fast over the green.  Why can’t you stop topping and hit the ball in the graceful arc you had hoped for? Overview:  At the range, or on the tee box at a par 3, put the ball on a tee and push the tee all the way into the ground.  It should be as if the ball is not teed up at all.  Now, focus on hitting the tee with the blade of your iron, not the ball, on the ..read more

Symptom:  You can’t forget that last bad golf shot.  You take several shots, or even several holes, to recover from one bad swing or errant shot. So, you end up with a scorecard with mostly good scores, but a few really big numbers on a couple of consecutive holes.  And so your handicap stays stubbornly high, even though most of your shots and holes are quite good. Description:  Forget the bad golf shot you just hit.  The shot you are about to hit is a new shot, unrelated to your previous bad golf shot. Actually, your upcoming shot is similar to a great shot you have ..read more

Symptom: Your fairway wood distance is almost as good as your driver distance.  Plus your fairway wood goes a whole lot straighter. Yet, as if by some sort of brainwashing ordeal suffered early in life, you pull out the big stick on every tee, hoping that “the next one” will be crushed down the middle. Erratic drives are costing you strokes and causing you to venture far from the short grass.  What’s worse, in order to “keep it in play”, you find yourself being tentative with your driver, leading to drives that are both short and erratic.  And so the round gets less and le ..read more

In this article, we take a look at two very different approaches to the golf swing plane, especially the backswing plane, as demonstrated by Matt Kuchar and Fred Couples. Undeniably Different Backswing Planes: Freddie vs. The Kuch Matt Kuchar has one of the flattest swing planes on the PGA tour.  He wraps the club around his body on the backswing, comes at the ball from the inside, and tends to play a draw.  Freddie, on the other hand, has one of the most abrupt and upright takeaways on tour.  His backswing and swing plane is mostly “up”, not “around”, and he tends to play ..read more

In this video post, we take a look at Justin Thomas and how his golf aim arises from his alignment method before he addresses the golf ball. Mundane, you say?  Hardly.  Very few things can help you improve faster than getting into the proper golf address position with proper golf alignment on each and every shot.  Believe it. Justin Thomas aligning himself to his distant target before he addresses the ball. I often see my playing partners neglect this part of the game.  It is a shame. If you don’t get your golf setup, golf alignment, and golf aim right, you cannot possib ..read more

Symptom: You are topping, thinning, and scooping the golf ball despite all your best efforts to stop.  You try to stop topping the golf ball but can’t seem to get it done. Your send another thin golf shot low and fast over the green.  Why can’t you stop topping and hit the ball in the graceful arc you had hoped for? Overview:  At the range, or on the tee box at a par 3, put the ball on a tee and push the tee all the way into the ground.  It should be as if the ball is not teed up at all.  Now, focus on hitting the tee with the blade of your iron, not the ball, on the ..read more

Symptom:  You can’t forget that last bad golf shot.  You take several shots, or even several holes, to recover from one bad swing or errant shot. So, you end up with a scorecard with mostly good scores, but a few really big numbers on a couple of consecutive holes.  And so your handicap stays stubbornly high, even though most of your shots and holes are quite good. Description:  Forget the bad golf shot you just hit.  The shot you are about to hit is a new shot, unrelated to your previous bad golf shot. Actually, your upcoming shot is similar to a great shot you have ..read more

Symptom:  When chipping from a bad lie, your pre-shot chipping routine is little more than hit-and-hope. Sadly, your chip shots sometimes go two feet instead of the thirty feet you had planned.  Often the ball nestles down in the grass a few feet away, to make for an even more difficult chip for your next shot.  Expletives are uttered or at least imagined. Description:  Your pre-shot chipping routine starts with observation. Study your lie for a few seconds.  Then find some nearby grass and a stance that closely resembles your lie.  This will be the site of your ..read more